ApnaMotihari Website

Traditional East Champaran

Rich in cultural heritage the land of East
Champaran , Festiveness is embed in the air of this place. Art , Dancing ,
Sculptures , Music , Festivals are some favorite Time pass for the people
belonging to this place. Good thing is even the waves of western culture is
dominating the whole INDIA , East champaran is quite tenacious in keeping his
culture alive. Saree is still the famous wardrobe for ladies of this place.
Touching feet of elders, Pouring water for rising SUN , Wearing KURTA PAIGAMA on
festivals are some signature eastern culture which this place is carrying till
now. Festivals are still celebrated with same enthusiasm with which it used to
be celebrated a decade back.

Festival

Our country has a tradition of festivals. From national festivals to social
festivals, people come closer, they enjoy and forget their differences.
Festivals break the tension of our day-to-day life. In
East Champaran
there is a large list of festivals and people celebrate them with full
happiness.

Chhatth Puja or Dalla Chhatth

Chatth Puja
is one of the important festivals celebrated in
East Champaran. This festival is also a famous in whole Bihar.
This is the only festival in which the setting sun is worshipped.
East Champarians celebrate this festival with immense faith.
Chhatth Puja is celebrated twice a year. First one
is in Chaitra (March) and another one in Kartik (November).This is a 4 day festival, for which people mainly
women maintain cleanliness and purity from even a month ahead. They sing folk
songs in the honour of ‘Chatti Maiyya’ and ‘Surya Dev’ and the sweetness of the songs
makes you also devoted. Women fast for the good of their family and the society.

Sama-Chakva

This festival
is celebrated especially in Mithila during the winter season. People of
East Champaran
also celeberate this festival. The festival Sama-Chakva is celebrated when the
colorful birds from the Himalayas mountain
migrate from there. The people dedicate this festival to the brother-sister
relationship.

Ram Navami

Ram Navami is a famous Hindu festival which is
celebrated with full happiness in all parts of the country. This is the very
auspicious day when Lord Rama was born.

Teej

Teej is a women’s festival which is celebrated with joy and happiness.Hartalika
Teej falls in the month of 'Bhadra'. It is a three-day festival which is
celebrated by women in honor of Goddess Parvati. On this day, women-folk keep
fast for long and conjugal life of their husband. Hartalika Teej fast aheads
without drinking water. By praying to Maa Parvati (Godess Parvati) on this
festival, women (married woman) are get blesses with long life of their
husband.

Eid:

Id is the festival of muslims, they celeberate this festival with same happiness
as hindu celebearte holi or diwali.

Barawafat:

It is also a famous festival among the muslims of East
Champaran. The festival is celeberated in the honour of Pagambar
Saheb birthday.

Basant Panchami, Holi, Shivratri, Raksha
Bandhan, Durga Puja, Bhiaya Dooj, Deepawali, Chitragupt Puja, Buddha Purnima,
Bakrid, sabebarat, Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha ,Muharram, Christmas are some major
festivals which are celebrated with full happiness.
Besides these festivals a sarwani mela is held in the month of Sarwan (August).
The mela (fair) is held in Areraj, which is a great holy place.

Cuisines of East Champaran

People of East Champaran
are vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian.
The main food of East
Champaran comprises of bhat (rice), dal, roti, tarkari and achaar
(pickle). The traditional cooking medium is mustard oil.
Another popular meal for most people in
East Champaran
is Khichdi, which is a broth of rice and lentils seasoned with spices and is
served with several types of achaars (pickles).
Kadhi-bari is also a famous food item among the
people of
East Champaran.
East Champaran offers a large variety of sweets.

Traditional salted snacks popular in East Champaran
are Chiwra, Litti, Makhaana, Sattu

Folk Music and Songs:

East Champaran has a very old tradition of
beautiful folk songs. These songs are sung during important family occasions,
such as marriage, birth ceremonies, festivals, etc. The folk songs are sung
mainly in group using Dholak, and sometimes Tabla and Harmonium are also used.
East Champaran’s folk songs are performed at various events in our life. Such as
‘Sohar’ ( a type of folk song) is sing on the occasion of a child birth.
’Sumangali’ is performed on wedding ceremony. Some of the other famous folk
songs are Nirgun, Samdaun, purbi, Hori, Chaita, Pachra, Bidesia, Birha, Jhumar,
Kajari.
Holi Dance:
Holi is a festival of color which is celebrated
with full happiness in whole country. According to hindi calendar Holi is the
first day of year. In East Champaran as well as in whole Bihar people sing folk
songs on Holi and they dance together in groups with full happiness on different
musical instruments such as Jhal-Manjeera, Dholak etc.
Jhumeri Dance:
Jhumeri Dance is the specialization of East Champaran.
It is very similar to

"Garva of Gujrat"

. This dance is mainly performed by
married women; especially this is a folk dance of Mithilanchal. When the sky is
clear in the month of Kartik and when full-moon spreads rays on earth then
married women in love begins singing, dancing in turn of the season. The
hilarious words of this folk dance are –